Apparatus for cutting and stacking strip material



E. A. DAVIS Jan. 16, 1951 APPARATUS FOR CUTTING AND SIAQKING STRIP ATERIAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NOV. 12, 1948 Jan. 16, 1951 i5. A. DAVIS 2,538,191

APPARATUS FOR CUTTING AND STACKING STRIP MATERIAL Filed Nov. 12. 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 46/ 3 o 7*, 6 A A m 70 Hue/ 77275.... Eda/52c? .QtFfiL/i? Patented Jan. 16, 1951 APPARATUS FOR CUTTING AND STACKING STRIP MATERIAL Edward A. Davis, Akron, Ohio, assignor to The B. F. Goodrich Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application November 12, 1948, Serial No. 59,507

3 Claims. 1-

This invention relates to the cutting and stacking of strip material and is especially useful in cutting thin walled rubber tubing such as is used in manufacturing rubber bands although th invention is also useful in cuttin and stacking other flexible strip material.

Hereto'fore, in the manufacture of rubber bands, a strip of thin unvulcanized rubber or other rubber-like material has been formed by a continuous process to tubular form and its margins seamed together.

The tubular strip has then been cut to lengths suitable for handling in a the vulcanizer and the lengths are vulcanized. Thereafter the lengths of tubing have been fed through a cutting machine which cuts them into very short lengths suitable for use as rubber bands.

It is an object of the present invention to prepare the strip material for the vulcanizin operation by cutting it to desired lengths and stacking the lengths.

This and other objects will appear from the following description and the accompanying drawings.

f the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of apparatus constructed in accordance with and embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view thereof taken on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view thereof taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral l0 designates a bed plate having parallel horizontal channel bars ll, l2 securedthereto along its margins. The bed plate is supported parallel to the floor by posts l3, l4, l5, 18 at one side thereof and similar posts at the opposite sid thereof. A series of brackets H are mounted upon the channels ll, I2 and are provided with free running rollers I8, I9, 23 for retainin parallel rails 2|, 22 of a carriage 23.

The carriage 23 has a plurality of racks 25, 26 mounted thereon for meshing with pinions 21, 28. The pinions are freely rotatable about a shaft 28 extending across the bed plate l0 and journaled in bearings 85 secured to channels II and I2. Rack 25 engages the upper side of pinion 21 and rack 28 engages the lower side of pinion 28. A clutch member 30 is slldeably mounted on shaft 28 between clutch members 3|, 32 secured to pinions 2'I. 28 respectively. Shaft 28 is driven from shaft 88 through chain 33 by engaging a sprocket 38 on the shaft. The arrangement is such that carriage 23 may be reciprocated by engaging the clutch alternately with pinions 21, 28.

For operating the clutch, a rocking shifter lever 35 is pivotally mounted on bed plate It and one end engages clutch member 30. The other end is pivotally connected to the piston rod 36 of a double actin fluid pressure cylinder 31 mounted on the base plate It. A four-way solenoid operated valve 38 is connected to cylinder 31 bypipes 39, 40. A limit switch 4| is mounted at one end of the channel l2 and a limit switch 42 is mounted at the opposite end. The arrangement is such that when the carriage approaches one end of the apparatus it contacts switch M engaging the solenoid of valve 38 to reverse the clutch 33 and drive the carriage in the opposite direction until the carriage operates switch 82 to again reverse it.

The strip material 50 is delivered by a pair of driven squeeze rollers 5|; 52 to a cut-off shear 53 and-from there, the cut strips are delivered over a conveyor belt 54' to a midpositicn of the apparatus Just described. The shear has a stationary blade 55 and a moveable blade 56 hinged thereto, as at 51; The blades are normally held open by a spring 58 and for performin a cutting operation the moveable blade 56 may be lowered by a solenoid 59. The strip material is guided between the blades by an inclined table 50.

" The conveyor belt 54 is mounted about pulleys I 65, 88. Pulley 88, which is fixed to shaft 86, is driven by a chain 61 engaging a sprocket on shaft 86 and driven by a shaft 81 to which roll 52 is secured. Shaft 86 also drives chain 33 to oscillate the table 23.

For operating the knife blade 56, a limit switch 88 is secured to bed plate l0 and well spaced from the adjacent end thereof and a similar switch 69 is mounted well spaced from the other end, the spacing between the switches being equal to the desired length of the cut strips or equal to the length of the carriage 23. The switches are adjustable along the bed plate. A switch operating cam 10 is mounted on the carriage 23 in position to close the switches during movement of the carriage. Switches 68, 69 are in the control circuit of solenoid 58. The arrangement is such that at each end of movement of the carriage 23 one of the switches 68, 69 is closed, engaging the solenoid to cut the strip 50.

The cut strips travel over pulley 68 and are deflected downwardly by a'roller I5 mounted to swing on an arm 16, pivotally mounted on post ll. To deflect the leading ends of the strip in the with the shaft 28 running in one direction, the 55 direction of travel of the carriage 23 and cause them to lay properly, a pipe 'l'l extends across the frame and has air jets I8 thereon directed to the right in Fig. l, and a simflar pipe ll has air jets 80 directed in the opposite direction. The pipes 11, 19 are supplied with compressed air from a convenient source (not shown) through lever operated normally closed valves 32, 8! respectively. Air valve 8| is normally closed and is opened by a cam 83 when the carriage 23 is at the extreme right, as seen in Fig. 1 and blows air from pipe 19 to the left to deflect the leading end of the strip 50 to the left to cause it to deflect toward the end of the carriage as the carriage starts its travel toward the left. Valve 82 .is similarly operated by a cam 84 and opens when the carriage is at the extreme left in Fig. 1 to cause the jets of pipe 11 to blow to the right to deflect the leading end to the right as the carriage starts its travel to the right.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: The strip material 50 is fed continuously between rollers SI, 52 and over guide 60 through the cutting blades. The carriage 23 reciprocates constantly and as the switches 68, 69 are closed by cam the knives cut the strip 50 to lengths which are conveyed over conveyor 54 in succession. As the leading end of a strip passes from the conveyor the carriage reverses direction of travel and the air Jets blow the leading end in the new direction of travel of the carriage. The

strips are received by the carriage and stacked thereon with the ends of the strips aligned with the ends of the carriage.

When the carriage is full, the operator remove the strips as a bundle.

Variations may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as it is defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for cutting and stacking strip material, said apparatus comprising a reciprocating carriage, means for feeding a continuous strip of material, toward said carriage,'means responsive to movements of said carriage for cutting the strip into lengths as it is advanced toward said carriage, and means for depositing the cut lengths of material on said carriage, said last-named means including air jets for deflecting and leading ends of the strips and means for operating said jets alternately in opposite directions corre- 4 sponding to the direction of travel of said carriage :1: the time the leading end approaches said car- 2. Apparatus for cutting and stacking strip material, said apparatus comprising a reciprocating carriage, means for feeding a continuous strip of material, means in the path of the strip for cutting lengths therefrom during advance of the strip. said cutting means being controlled by movement of said carriage, and means for depositing the cut lengths of material on said carriage, said last-named means including air Jets for deflecting the leading ends of the strips alternately in opposite directions corresponding to the direction of travel of said carriage at the time the leading end approache said carriage, said air jets being controlled in their operation by movement of said carriage.

3. Apparatus for feeding and stacking strips of material, said apparatus comprising a reciprocating carriage for receiving the strips in succession, means for delivering the leading edges of said strips in succession at the two extremities of travel of the carriage, and means controlled by movement of the carriage for deflecting the leading ends of the strips alternately in opposite directions corresponding to the direction of travel of said carriage, said means comprising air Jets directed against the leading end of the strips and valves controlling supply of air under pressure to said Jets, said valves being controlled by cams on said carriage.

' EDWARD A. DAVIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

